Thursday, August 27, 2009

I'm going to start listing companies who act deplorable - let's save our money rather than give it to these guys. Remember, we vote with our spending dollars. If you don't like a company's actions, don't buy from them.

So I totally jinxed myself making this video (laugh it up when it all spills! It's ok, I laughed too.) but here's a pretty simple recipe anybody can make with stuff they probably have on hand. (And yes, again, I used my real first name for the entry.)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

So as some of you know, my fiance and I bought our first home. It's 3 times larger than our two bedroom, extremely cramped apartment. We'll finally have some space to put our things. Unfortunately, because we have so much stuff (my fiance had to clean out his dad's house when he died so we have a lot of leftovers that need to be moved) it means we need LOTS of boxes to move. We have a storage unit where we've been storing a lot of things - although we have a two bedroom, we have more than enough stuff to fill a three bedroom place (luckily there are 5 bedrooms in the new house!)

Here are some of the boxes I've packed up on top of our air hockey table (which I got for free off of Craigslist!)

To buy a sufficient amount of boxes from U-Haul, it would cost $379.98 for the 3 bedroom pack - that doesn't even include the boxes for the living & dining rooms plus kitchen! To buy one big package, it would cost $535.66! We don't have that sort of money to spend on boxes so a few months ago, I started keeping my eyes peeled for boxes on Freecycle. I picked up boxes from two people who were giving away their used moving boxes and now we have more than enough to get us through this move! I just stored all the boxes on our balcony while we were looking at houses. (Remember to donate your boxes back to Freecycle once you're done moving to help out others!)

More of the boxes we've packed!

If you need a box or two, U-Haul has a donation program where you can donate your used U-Haul brand boxes and if somebody needs one or two (don't abuse this service) they can pick one up. It's sort of like the "give a penny, take a penny" bowl near cash registers. If you need a box, I suggest getting one when you're renting your truck - don't just make a special trip to take a free box.

Another way to save cash is to ask your work if they have any boxes from shipments that you can have (such as from office supplies or product.) Remember to ask first, but usually you can take as many boxes as you need!

If you can't get boxes from your work, local grocery stores have tons of boxes. Usually, if you go in and ask for the produce manager, you can ask to have all the boxes that fruits and veggies have come in. I've never been to a grocery store where they won't give them to you for free!

I've been packing more boxes than I can stand. Luckily, the only thing I've bought for this move is packing tape - I haven't used one roll of bubble wrap or packing peanuts. Want to save money and skip that pricey stuff? Start saving up your plastic grocery bags, newspapers, weekly ad inserts and packaging from things you buy to use as packaging. Want an even more eco-friendly way to pack? Use your blankets, sheets, towels, curtains and even clothing to pack and pad your items.

You'll save cash, have less stuff to throw away and you won't have to pack as many boxes!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

I've been SUPER busy here at home packing and filling out paper work and everything that comes along with buying a foreclosure (we snagged an AMAZING deal on a 2,700 sq.ft house with a 7,000 sq. ft. lot!!!) I haven't had any time to sit down and write unfortunately but I know it's going to change when this move is over!

Anyway I was online because I need to buy some more powder, blush and foundation from MAC. I almost exclusively use MAC makeup with a little Bourjois and Maybelline. Luckily for me, MAC actually saves me a ton of money because I used to exclusively use Sue Devitt and it was terribly expensive. Unfortunately, although MAC makeup is affordable for me, their brushes are very expensive (which is why I only have a a handful of them.) I've really been wanting to buy some more eye makeup brushes because your applicator makes ALL the difference in your makeup. At this time, MAC brushes are just not in my budget. I knew there had to be a way to get nice, quality brushes at a fraction of the cost. I found the answer and I thought I'd share this video I found about saving money on makeup brushes: